Outlook: March probably cooler, drier than normal

Posted March 3, 2011, 6:21 PM.

A month ago, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center had a similar outlook for February, one that turned out to be partly wrong when the second half of the month turned wet.

For March, there's a 33% chance that precipitation will be less than normal in Southern California's inland valleys, and a 33% chance that temperatures will be below normal. The below normal temperature outlook ends for the deserts; probabilities for the desert are set at an equal chance between cooler or warmer than normal weather.

By now, everyone is used to the fact that this will end up being a wet La Nina season, no matter what happens in March, April and May. Epic rainfall in December made certain of that, and it was reinforced by February rainfall that was near or above normal in most locations.

In fact, the wet months of December, January and February are behind us. Recent Marches have been significantly less wet, and April and May are generally drier still.

March can be wet, however. The last March with significant rainfall inland was in 2006, and before that, in 2003.

Cooler than normal temperatures have been with us much of the past year.

Here's what's normal for the month of February, by community:

Location

Precip.

High

De Luz

0.21"

69°F

Fallbrook

0.88"

69°F

Hemet

1.17"

70°F

Lake Elsinore

0.61"

72°F

Menifee

0.49"

71°F

Murrieta

0.70"

72°F

Riverside

0.42"

72°F

Temecula

1.03"

72°F

Note: normals are used for communities with five or more years of data.

The Menifee, California weather pages are a service of WeatherCurrents. The City of Menifee consists of the communities of Menifee, Sun City and Quail Valley and is located in in southwestern Riverside County, California, north of Murrieta, south of Perris and east of Canyon Lake.